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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 27, 2003

U.S. Russia Commercial Energy Summit Fact Sheet
United States-Russia Commercial Energy Summit

In May 2002, Presidents Bush and Putin launched a new energy dialogue to strengthen the overall relationship between the United States and Russia and to enhance global energy security.

A major initiative of the new energy dialogue was the first U.S.-Russia Commercial Energy Summit in Houston, Texas in October 2002. This summit was co-chaired by Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref, and Russian Minister of Energy Igor Yusufov. During the summit, industry and government officials agreed to 1) identify barriers to trade and investment in the energy sector, 2) discuss policies to improve the commercial climate, and 3) explore opportunities for business partnerships. More than 450 U.S. and Russian senior industry and government officials participated in the event.

The second U.S.-Russia Commercial Energy Summit was held in St. Petersburg, Russia on September 22-23. At this summit, participants explored new areas of cooperation such as electric power, natural gas development, and alternative energy sources. During the summit, the Energy Working Group and the Commercial Energy Dialogue issued reports to the summit co-chairs Secretaries Evans and Abraham and Ministers Gref and Yusufov.

The Energy Working Group is a government-to-government dialogue. Its report contained an update on the status of policy and technical cooperation between our governments in the U.S. and Russian energy sectors.

The Commercial Energy Dialogue is a private-sector led forum that was initiated to identify barriers to energy trade and investment between U.S. and Russian companies. The Dialogue is co-chaired by the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia and the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. Its report contained recommendations on how to improve the investment climate for energy projects.

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